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Am I screwed if I hate trackpads?

I'd never use a trackpad over a mouse. A trackpad just isn't as quick as a mouse for me for my liking. The only time I use it is when I don't have a mouse with me. I'd also rather use a mouse with lots of programable buttons over a mouse with gestures.

Also, most PC laptop trackpads support multi-touch gestures. It's just that the manufacturers don't include the features in the driver even though the hardware supports it (Why? I don't have a clue). Use a third-party driver, or application, and bam you instantly get everything a Mac's trackpad can do.
 
trackpads are not for everyone,they'r made for mac users that are used to trackpads in macbooks . so they can use the same gestures in a imac.
 
magic mouse

i really dont like trackpads that much in general; i think gestures are best on a screen and the screen is displaying an OS designed for fingers (like iOS). i think the best navigation of a mac is the magic mouse and products like it. the magic mouse has no buttons, and allows for a fair amount of gestures (not as much as trackpad), but still allows for the precision and detail of a normal mouse.
 
I consider them a necessary evil on laptops and I thought I'd hate the one on my MBP but I have grown to really like it. The larger surface area makes it much less twitchy than the one on my PC laptop and I never have to lift my finger multiple times to move the pointer across the screen.

I personally don't think it replaces a mouse, but it is a nice supplement to it. When at my desk I often use the two interchangeably... the mouse is faster and more accurate for pointing, but (considering the positioning of the trackpad to the space bar on a laptop) it's often quicker to move the cursor with my thumb and use gestures for browsing/spaces/expose.
 
Personally I prefer a mouse over a trackpad. In fact when I bought my MBP I got a Magic Mouse to go with it.
 
if you don't like the trackpad get a magic mouse. if you don't like a magic mouse get a regular mouse/gaming/etc. i don't see why you wouldn't want to take full advantage of all the gestures a multi-touch surface gives you, and you don't have to buy batteries for the trackpad in your computer.
 
I use the Apple Magic Mouse, and while it took me months to get used to, I really find myself out of water when I don't have it. I love the features of it; especially when paired with Better Touch Tool. So many easy gestures and the movement is just smooth. I like the track pad on the MBP but I never got used to it but have used it more since I got the magic mouse and it feels natural to move to it.

Now, ultimately, touch pad in the left hand and magic mouse for the right, that would be slick. Especially if I could get a large enough touch pad to act as a keyboard too. :D That would be great.
 
GGJstudios said:
Using my Logitech mouse, I can run circles around any trackpad user. A mouse is simply faster and more accurate. I doubt mice are going to disappear from the peripheral landscape anytime soon, and certainly not in favor of trackpads. While many may prefer trackpads, but there are still millions of mouse users who won't switch.
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Using my Apple touch pad, I accomplish a lot more with very little effort. A touch pad is simply faster and more efficient. I doubt anyone is really putting R&D into making a better mouse, and certainly not when all next-generation tech is touch based. While many may prefer mice, but there are still millions of touch pad users who have switched and are never going back.
 
logandzwon said:
Using my Apple touch pad, I accomplish a lot more with very little effort. A touch pad is simply faster and more efficient. I doubt anyone is really putting R&D into making a better mouse, and certainly not when all next-generation tech is touch based. While many may prefer mice, but there are still millions of touch pad users who have switched and are never going back.
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There is no way a trackpad is faster or more efficient than a mouse. As a small example, try dragging an item from one corner of your screen to the opposite corner. With a mouse, you can do that in one movement. Not so on a trackpad, where you have to swipe a few times to make the distance. Highlighting selected items, dragging, dropping, scrolling long web pages right-clicking, selecting from sub-menus.... all are MUCH faster and more accurate using a mouse than a trackpad. Of course, which one you use is a matter of personal preference, but there is no way a trackpad is as fast or efficient as a mouse.
 
GGJstudios said:
There is no way a trackpad is faster or more efficient than a mouse. As a small example, try dragging an item from one corner of your screen to the opposite corner. With a mouse, you can do that in one movement. Not so on a trackpad, where you have to swipe a few times to make the distance. Highlighting selected items, dragging, dropping, scrolling long web pages right-clicking, selecting from sub-menus.... all are MUCH faster and more accurate using a mouse than a trackpad. Of course, which one you use is a matter of personal preference, but there is no way a trackpad is as fast or efficient as a mouse.
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If we were talking previous touch pads I'd agree, however it doesn't take multiple swipes to cross the screen anymore, and I don't find the mouse is inherently more accurate than the pad on my MBP. I know that I'm more accurate with a mouse.... but I've been using one for decades.

Further, the assumption that you can only quickly drag/drop/highlight and right click with a mouse ignores that the track pad has left/right buttons built in, which work the same as the buttons on your mouse.

To clarify, I'm not arguing that the touch pad is superior to a mouse as I use both interchangeably and like each method for different reasons... however I don't think you're looking at the whole picture when it comes to your arguments.
 
some-dude said:
To clarify, I'm not arguing that the touch pad is superior to a mouse as I use both interchangeably and like each method for different reasons... however I don't think you're looking at the whole picture when it comes to your arguments.
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Actually, I am. I don't doubt that there may be some who have gained great proficiency with a trackpad and there are some who still can't find their way around a mouse. However, if you compare approximately the same skill level in a trackpad user and a mouse user, the mouse wins every time. There might be individual instances where a trackpad is more efficient, such as rotating a picture, for example. For overall daily use, I stand by my statement. Again, it's a matter of personal preference as to which you prefer using.
 
GGJstudios said:
There is no way a trackpad is faster or more efficient than a mouse. As a small example, try dragging an item from one corner of your screen to the opposite corner. With a mouse, you can do that in one movement. Not so on a trackpad, where you have to swipe a few times to make the distance. Highlighting selected items, dragging, dropping, scrolling long web pages right-clicking, selecting from sub-menus.... all are MUCH faster and more accurate using a mouse than a trackpad. Of course, which one you use is a matter of personal preference, but there is no way a trackpad is as fast or efficient as a mouse.
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I had the Apple Trackpad and sold it to go back to a Magic Mouse for exactly the reasons you stated. I find the mouse much faster and more precise for the type of activities you described.
 
I'm currently using a magic track pad through bluetooth and a naga gaming mouse plugged into usb. It is a nice set up and I use the different input device depending on what I'm doing. Sometimes I put the trackpad on the left side, but often I have them both next to each other.
 
Desktop Macs don't have trackpads; wireless isn't worth the trouble IMHO

I'm not personally opposed to using a trackpad, however with my desktop Mac Apple's only option is a wireless device. I refuse to use this for several reasons:

  1. Batteries run out -- my wired trackball needs no batteries
  2. Anything wireless gets interference -- my wired trackball never gets interference
  3. Sometimes wireless isn't available, such as during boot-up if you need to get into single-user mode (I tried this using an Apple wireless keyboard some years ago and had to switch back to a wired keyboard to get in to my system at all).

Since almost everything "new" shown in the Lion demo is based on multi-touch gestures, I can only hope Apple have given some good thought to how to implement all the features without a trackpad. Perhaps 2-finger gestures can be done with Option-Mouseclick, 3-finger gestures done with Command-Mouseclick, etc. Otherwise Lion will simply be unusable for those without a trackpad.
 
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hazza.jockel said:
I wonder if there was a convo like this when mice first started to appear :rolleyes:
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While I was researching the magic trackpad today, I came across quotes from a magazine article written in the 80's where the tech writer blasted Apple for the preposterous idea of inventing the mouse. Quite humorous to read.
 
Not good for programmers ...

I write code for a living. I have a Bamboo Pen & Touch and the Apple Trackpad. In my view, the difficulty in cutting & pasting large blocks of text/code is where the difference really shows up. When I first got the Pen & Touch, I forced myself to use it for a month as my exclusive pointing device because I wanted to see if I could really convert. After a month, it was clear that the mouse was still the most efficient pointing device for me. I just got the Apple Trackpad with the purchase of a new iMac. The Apple Trackpad is way better than the Pen & Touch, but still falls short for cut & paste.
 
I have the magic trackpad and it's nice. I do like two finger scrolling on it.

But as an input device it's nowhere near as fast as a mouse. I guess if you are a slower computer user the trackpad is fine but it just can't keep up with me.
 
First off, I'll agree with people who say that Mac trackpads are significantly better than PC trackpads - you can't beat 2 finger scrolling and some gestures.

That said, trackpads suck a** for their primary function of getting your mouse cursor from one place to another.

Mice are vastly superior, especially when you have the sensitivity set relatively high, so you can quickly (and accurately, let's not forget that) get to exactly where you need to be on screen.

A finger having to swipe multiple times just to get from one end of the screen to the other is *not* efficient. A trackpad makes you feel like you have some kind of problem with your basic motor skills.

The one thing I'll say that's positive about having a trackpad - it's always there, whether you have a mouse (or have room for one) or not. If I'm using a laptop though, I'll always carry a portable mouse with me.

Aside from this, what if you don't even LIKE laptops? I bought an iPad as my mobile device, because what I do on the go (browsing, email, etc) can be done just as easily and quickly on the iPad...and it's a device that's actually *built* to use gestures. I *love* the gestures that are coming in iOS 5 (I set up my iPad as a developer device in Xcode, so I have those new gestures already.)

If I ever need Photoshop on the go, I might get a MBP, but until I actually need that kind of power, I'm happy with my Mac Pro on the desktop and iPad/iPhone for mobile use.
 
I'm not sure what some of you are talking about. I have a 27" ACD hooked to my MBP and I use a Magic Trackpad. I have used mice for the past 20 years. On the trackpad I can take the mouse diagonally from one end of the screen to the other without needing "3 or 4 swipes". With a mouse, you cannot simply use two fingers to move forward and backward through webpages. Swipe 4 fingers right or left to hop between programs. Tap down with two fingers and you right click, one to select. 4 fingers down to see all open programs and quickly select. 4 fingers up to get to your desktop and answer an IM before continuing with what you were doing in full screen mode.

Let's face it. The vast majority of people use their computers more than anything to surf the internet and no mouse can remotely be close to the speed of the trackpad plus the gestures that come with it when it comes to surfing the net.

Copy and Paste was the one area I found the mouse better. However, now that I've gotten used to simply holding down one finger on the trackpad while scrolling with my ring finger, I'd say it's close to a wash for speed. A mouse is the superior option no doubt for gamers.

My biggest beef has been the lack of a delete button (or I have never found it) instead of how the apple delete seems to function like a backspace but that's a keyboard issue.
 
Frozn: You're right about gestures being better for forward/baxkward webpage browsing...compared to a basic mouse. But if you have a mouse with the back/forward buttons on the side, I find that to be the fastest way to surf.
 
I've been using logitech 3 button mice on my MPBs for some time. The trackpad is cool, and very usable in tight spaces, but my preference is external.
 
I feel like this thread is full of this:

cutler3.jpg


Can someone justify their fear over this whole issue? All Apple is really doing is adding functionality to trackpads that already exist on a conventional multibutton mouse. How is improving multitouch hurting your mouse experience in any way or a sign of death? I'll gladly eat crow if Apple one day actively blocks OSX from operating with a mouse but until then this just a bunch of worrywarts.
 
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